Security Official and Former Rouhani Government Minister Admit: Last December’s Protests Occurred in 160 Cities and Were an ‘Alarm Bell’
Ali Rabiei, the impeached labor minister of Hassan Rouhani’s government and a former senior member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, stated that the number of cities involved in the December 2017 protests was 160 cities, saying that these protests “sound an alarm bell that could expand further.”
He, who was the minister of welfare, labor and social cooperation during last year’s protests, said in an interview with ISNA news agency that while referring to the killing of a number of protesters, the government employed “great restraint” in dealing with the protests.
Mr. Rabiei, meanwhile, characterized the nature of these protests as different from the 1979 revolution and as “a limited and regional but dangerous type of uprising.”
Recently, Hossam al-Din Ashna, an adviser to the Iranian president who also has a background in senior security positions, warned that “there is a possibility of repetition” of the December 2017 protests, because “their causes have not been addressed and only the immediate conditions have been resolved, so we must always be vigilant.”
Last year, senior officials of the Islamic Republic attempted to downplay the protests, but after several months, the political manager of the Parliament Research Center stated that the December 2017 protests occurred in 86 cities, 31 provinces, and 29 provincial capitals.
During Iran’s nationwide protests that began on Thursday, December 28, 2017, severe repression by the Islamic Republic of Iran took place, resulting in several deaths and thousands of arrests.
Mike Pence, the U.S. Vice President, was among senior American officials who repeatedly supported Iranians’ right to protest against the government during the days of protests.
Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, also strongly condemned the killing and arrest of some in connection with Iran’s protests.
Additionally, Nikki Haley, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, called for investigation of the suppression of protests in Iran at the UN Security Council and warned the Islamic Republic government that the world is watching its behavior.
Source: Voice of America
